Punching ra



GEORGE SHONE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

PUNCI-IING RAILWAY-BARS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 22,983, dated February 15, 1859.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE SHONE, of the city and county of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented a new and Improved Machine for Punching Railroad- Rails to Receive the Spikes Which Secure Them to the Sleepers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference bef ing had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which--v Figure l, is a front view of my invention. Fig. 2, is a transverse section of ditto, taken in the line m, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention I will proceed'to describe it.

A, represents a bedplate at each end of which there is an upright B, the upper ends of the uprights having bearings a, to re- .ceive the journals b, of a shaft C. On the bedplate A, a steel bolster D, is placedfhaving a square or rectangular opening c, at each end as shown by the dotted lines. The bedplate and upright may be of cast iron, the shaft C, may be of wrought iron. On the shaft C, three cams D, D, E, are formed. 'Ihe shape of the central cam E, is shown in Fig. 2, as also is the shape of the cams D, D, which are placed, one at each side of cam E. To the center of shaft C, a lever F, is attached, and Gr, G, are two yokes, in which the cams D, D, are fitted and work. The yokes Gr, Gr, are attached to a gate H, which is tted and allowed to slide freely between the uprights B, B. The gate H, may be of cast metal and provided with flanches UZ, at each side to fit over the edges of the uprights B, and serve as guides. The gate H, is recessed, as shown at I, see more particularly Fig. l. The recess I, corresponds or approximates to the form of the rails to be punched. In the lower end of the gate H, two punches I, I, are placed. These punches are square, constructed of course of steel, and fitted snugly in the gate, the punches projecting suficiently far below the gate to cut through the base of the rail.

J, are screws, two are used, but only one is shown, which pass horizontally through the lower part of one of the uprights B, and K, is a screw provided with a handle L, at its outer end and passing through the opposite upright B, see Fig. 1. At both the front and back of the bed plate A, a button or stop M, is attached. These buttons or stops maybe turned up or down, as occasion may require.

The shaft C, is kept in proper position, or prevented from having any longitudinal play, by means of washers e, which are secured on the journals b, and against the outer sides of the bearings a, by keys f, see Fig. l.

The operation is as follows The rail to be punched, shown in red, in Fig. 2, and in black in Fig. l, and designated by N, is supported on blocks near each end, and the machine is lifted by hand, two men being sufficient, and adjusted on the end of the rail, one stop or button M, being raised against which the end of the rail strikes. The rail N, is passed through the opening I, in the gate which is elevated and the screws J, K, are adjusted to clamp the rail or secure it in proper position. The lever F, is then depressed or moved in the direction of arrow l, see Fig. 2, and the cam E, forces down the gate H, and the punches I, cut the rectangular notches in the edges of the base of the rail, the two notches being cut simultaneously. When the notches are cut, the screw K, is relaxed by turning the handle L, the rail N, being thereby freed from the machine, and lever F, is turned or moved in the opposite direction as indicated by arrow 2, and the cams D, D, elevate the gatel H, and consequently the punches I. The machine is then appliedto the opposite end of the rail and it may be `moved along on the rail to the opposite end. The button or stop M, that was previously raised being turned down and when the machine is at the opposite end the other stop M, is turned up to serve as a gage, the intermediate points of the rail being notched of course when both stops are turned down.

The punches I, are square pieces of steel bar properly smoothed at each end. These punches may be turned so that each one has four cutting edges and the punches may also be reversed so that either Vend may be used, making in all eight cutting edges for each punch.

This device is -quite portable, may be readily applied to its work and the work may be performed by it very expeditiously.

I do not claim broadly the employment or use of cams for operating punches, for cams are a -well known mechanical device and have been previously used for the same and analogous purposes; but,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as ne7 and desire to secure by Let- 5 ters Patent, is,

The arrangement and combination of the recessed gate H, triple earn shaft C, clamping screws J, K, and adjustable buttons M, substantially as and for the purpose herein shown and described.

GEORGE SHONE. Vitnesses THOMAS KAY, FREDC. S. DEWEY. 

